Old Friends
by Maths Is Immortal
Summary: It’s Sirius’ first Order meeting since he’s escaped from Azkaban and he’s bored. He resorts to his old solution of writing notes to Remus using a spell that they perfected at Hogwarts.


Sirius tried to stifle a yawn as the meeting continued around him

A/N: Italics are entries in the notepad- they alternate between Sirius and Remus. It should be pretty obvious which are which, so I've kept them all in italics to make it a bit neater than having different styles for Remus + Sirius and put a dash at the start of each new message. Hope this is ok!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the rather thin plot.

Summary: It's Sirius' first Order meeting since he's escaped from Azkaban and he's _bored_. He resorts to his old solution of writing notes to Remus using a spell that they perfected at Hogwarts.

Sirius tried to stifle a yawn as the meeting continued around him. When he had first joined the Order of the Phoenix it had all seemed so _exciting_. After attending hundreds of meetings that followed the same formula every time, the novelty had worn off, and they now felt more like his old History of Magic lessons than the gathering of a top secret society. He'd thought that maybe this would have changed now that he was out of Azkaban, but he was already bored stiff and this was only his second meeting since the return of Lord Voldemort. He glanced across at Remus as Arthur listed every slightly unusual occurrence at the ministry, which considering the organisation was quite a long list.

Sirius couldn't help but smirk- the werewolf's brow was creased in apparent concentration and he was staring at the notebook in his hand, but Sirius had sat with him in enough of Binns' lessons to realise that this was only a guise. The smile on the dark-haired man's faced faded a little as he wondered if he still knew him as well as he thought he did after years apart. There had been no time or opportunity after Sirius' escape for him to talk to his old friend properly, and he found himself suddenly saddened at this thought. The smile appeared on his face once again as he thought of a solution to the problem _and_ his boredom- the same solution that he had come up with at Hogwarts.

Sirius pointed his wand at Remus' notebook, and focused his silent spell towards it. His teachers had always wondered how the four Marauders, especially Peter, had perfected silent incantations so quickly.

Remus found himself brought back from his thoughts to the meeting with a familiar sensation. Did he just imagine it, or had a warmth spread across his notebook? He glanced across at Sirius, the only person at the meeting who would have cast the spell, with an eyebrow raised. Sirius grinned at him and winked.

"Mr Black, could you please keep your mind on the meeting rather than Mr Lupin, please?" McGonnagall snapped.

"Sorry, Profess- I mean, Minerva. It's rather difficult when he raises his eyebrow like that, you see."

McGonnagall shook her head in despair while Remus rolled his eyes and returned his gaze to his notebook. The meeting continued and Sirius began to write on his own. As he did, his words formed themselves on Remus' page.

- _Has it worked, Moony?_

Remus had to try hard not to grin, before writing back.

- _Yes! _

_- Brilliant! Our days of boredom are over once again! I can't believe I didn't think of this in the first war- still, can't be a genius all the time._

_- Genius is 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration, and I'm yet to see you lift a finger if you can find a way around it!_

_- Hey! It's a lot of hard work, avoiding hard work! I'm constantly challenging my intellect, which, when you have one as great as mine, is rather difficult!_

_- My God, even the dementors couldn't change you! I think McGonnagall was hoping Azkaban would have had some kind of positive effect on your behaviour._

_- Ah, Minnie, ever the optimist. This is so much fun; it's like being back at Hogwarts!_

_- Except you've learnt how to use semicolons, I notice. Good for you!_

_- Yeah, dementors are afraid of punctuation- it was my only real weapon against them in Azkaban._

_- Really?_

Sirius burst out laughing at Remus' naivety before remembering where they were and biting his lip to restrain himself.

"Are you alright, Mr Black?"

He took a deep breath. "Yes thank you, Minerva."

"Are you sure? I don't really see what's so amusing about potential spies in the ministry."

"Well, it just reminded me of the time when Remus and I, um, when we, like, were spies, and all the fun times we had."

"You were never used as spies!"

"No, but we did, like, spy on, uh..." he glanced desperately around the room for inspiration. "Women! We spied on women! The girls, at Hogwarts!"

"We did not! I assure you, we did not!" Remus cried.

"Now, Remus, denying it isn't going to change the past. We all know you were very, how shall I put it, _confused_ at that time- you were just trying to confirm your manliness."

Remus spluttered in protest, lost for words for once.

"Mr Black, that's quite enough. Please let's just continue with the meeting." Minerva scolded.

_- WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT?!_

_- I had to cover up somehow! I just couldn't believe you didn't realise I was joking!_

_- And there wasn't any way you could have done without making us sound like complete perverts?!_

_- Sorry, I panicked! Anyway, you know what I feel like?_

_- Spying on some more girls, perhaps?_

_- No, dear Remus, a prank! It's about time we got back into the swing of things! I do like your suggestion, though; maybe we could do that afterwards!_

_- Most definitely not! If it will keep you quiet I'll go along with a small prank, but nothing dangerous!_

_- Fine, fine! It just doesn't seem right working alongside Snape without some kind of prank planned. It's unnatural. James wouldn't want it- we owe it to him, Moony._

_- Ok, have you got anything in mind?_

_- I'm not sure... have you got any ideas?_

_- We could replace his shampoo with hair dye._

_- Simple, but effective! One problem- does he actually _use_ shampoo?_

_- I suppose he must do every so often. Maybe it's just not very good..._

_- Yeah, that's probably it. Anyway, a nice strawberry blonde should do the trick! You're the best, Moony!_

_- I know. You're welcome!_

There was a slight pause before Sirius answered, and Remus looked across at him to see what was wrong. Sirius had his pen poised over his notepad and there was a slightly sad smile on his face. Finally he scribbled something on his pad.

_- I missed you._

_- I know. I missed you, too._


End file.
